Of Reviews and Goals... and a Tag!

Happy New Year! 

It’s that time of the year when our gaze turns inwards, backwards and forwards all at the same time. Basically, it’s when we all go a little cock-eyed. I did too.

2015 is gone. Long live 2015. Or not. Really. 2015 was not a very memorable year for me. It was as if I spent the year in limbo. Professionally, I did’t start anything new, I didn’t finish anything that I had previously started, and no milestones were achieved. Intangible progress was made, yes, but only the kind that will be visible, if at all, in 2016. And there does not seem to be anything concrete to point to and say - ‘I did that in 2015’. Personally too it was a quiet year and nothing major happened in or to my family. Everybody started and ended the year in good health and spirits and for that I am grateful. 

I guess my 2015 was the sort of year most people have regularly. Just a quiet year of settled life with strong health and relationships and the sort of plodding work where you begin the digging to lay the foundations of a future career, and there is nothing wrong with a year like that. It’s just that my life has been in such constant flux for the past seven years that I haven’t even had the chance to begin and end a year in the same house or even in the same city in all that time. So, to suddenly settle down in one place (and one house!) for that long has come to seem abnormal to me. Hah!

But there is much to look forward to in 2016. Professionally, I hope to begin (and finish) pouring the concrete for the foundation of a career and that may mean a move. So it remains to be seen whether January 2017 will see me in the same house that January 2016 saw me in. In the blog space, I have resolved (yes - that dreaded word) to do a better job of reviving this space and write at least a post a week. I have also set myself the challenge of reading 48 books this year at the rough pace of a book a week and if nothing else, that should give the ‘currently reading’ and ‘recently read’ section of a the site a regular workout. So keep tuned. 

I have also decided to be more social in the blog world and as a result, find myself with a self-imposed obligation to accept a blog tag. Prithvi tagged me and apparently the rules of the tag require that I exhibit a logo, state 7 random facts about myself and tag others. Now, while I am very thankful to Prithvi for trying so hard to coax me out of this shell, I think I will cheat a little. I will state the 7 random facts but will not display the logo or tag anyone else. Ok? So here goes…

7 random facts about me:

1. I am not as indecisive as my blog avatar may lead people to believe, though in recent times my indecision has, worryingly, increased.
2. But I do procrastinate. A lot. 
3. I am quite excited about the 48 books challenge. Given the flux my life has been in, I haven’t had a chance to read as many books in one year in a very long time. 
4. I haven’t read more than a couple of fiction books per year in a very very long time. I hope to change that this year and make at least 24 of my 48 books fiction.
5. I have recently discovered the world of podcasts and I am hooked! Hooked I say, hooked! ‘Reading Lives’ and Book Riot’s ‘The Podcast’ are my new absolute favourites and have been largely responsible for me resolving to plunge back into the world of fiction in a major way. I also love- ‘Limetown’. Oh my my my - what a show. I can't wait for season 2.
6. One day I hope to become a professional writer. I can’t believe I said that out loud. 
7. I also paint. Sometimes.

That’s it for now, but I have a few book reviews coming up - so stay tuned for more!